Photo by NASHUA POLICE George Carty, 20, of 80 Sayles St., Lowell, Mass.

NASHUA – Authorities allege George Carty, 20, drove from his Lowell, Massachusetts home in June to paint a swastika and the phrase “National Socialist Legion” at Nashua High School North.

The officer investigating the offensive graffiti used security video, a tip from another officer, Google maps, social media and Westford, Massachusetts police reports to track down the suspect, according to reports filed in court.

This resulted in the arrest of Carty on one count of misdemeanor criminal mischief, which accuses him of driving to Nashua High School North in the early morning hours of June 13, stopping in a small lot off Titan Way, allegedly spray painting a swastika and the phrase “National Socialist Legion,” taking photos of it then leaving about eight minutes later, the reports state.

Police picked up Carty the afternoon of Jan. 22, booked him on the charge and released him to his parents on personal recognizance bail. He later entered a plea of not guilty and waived formal arraignment, at which time a Nashua district court judge scheduled a pre-trial conference for 8:15 a.m. April 18 in the Nashua court.

Documents in Carty’s court file indicate he intends to “assert his right to a speedy trial.” He is being represented by Nashua attorney Tim Bush.

Nashua police officer Kevin Clancy, who initiatied the investigation, said in his report he was on duty as the school resource officer at NHS North when a school security officer informed him of the graffiti.

Clancy said he went out to the lot to take a look at, and photograph, the graffiti. He then got together with the security officer to start reviewing the surveillance videos.

Just before 2:40 a.m. the night of the incident, Clancy wrote, a vehicle he would later associate with Carty appears on the video and turns into a small parking lot about halfway down Titan Way.

He described the driver getting out, walking several feet from the vehicle, then getting back in before getting out again to apparently take a photo. When the suspect got into the car and turned on the headlights, Clancy said he could read the words “National Socialist Legion” on the pavement.

Clancy was also able to read the license plate on the vehicle, a 2001 white Lincoln Navigator, which he later determined was registered to a person with the last name Carty, of 80 Sayles St., Lowell.

Clancy wrote that he did a Facebook search for the name, and found a “mutual friend” named George Carty. In perusing Carty’s Facebook page, Clancy alleged, he “observed some disturbing posts regarding race and genocide.”

About two weeks later, Clancy wrote, a Nashua police detective brought to his attention information he’d received from a Westford, Massachusetts detective regarding an arrest made in “racist/flyer/tagging” allegations in Westford. Clancy said the suspect information, including the description of the Lincoln, matched Carty’s.

Westford police arrested Carty after a resident walked into police headquarters and told officers a man was driving around in the town’s Nabnasset neighborhood and hanging racist flyers on poles.

According to a Lowell Sun story at the time, police stopped the car and identified the driver as Carty, who allegedly told them he “randomly chose to come to Westford” to post flyers warning of “white genocide” and advocating for “race purity.”

Police said they found numerous flyers in Carty’s vehicle, along with a stapling gun, spray paint, duct tape, “racist stickers” and a “manifesto” Carty allegedly wrote, and which contained “hateful speech.”